lations before the Committee that the United States Government is watching the matter with a view to its bearing on the housing question. Mr. Untermyer, who is bringing out the evidence, says that the levy of tribute has laid a heavy burden on all building costs, and instances one contract where there was an attempt to raise the cost by $125,000, solely for profiteering purposes. Such a deplorable state of things as this investigation has brought out shows how easy it can be made for unscrupulous go-betweens to take advantage of men who are ready to buy business privileges as against their competitors or to buy off union leaders. Soon the go-between can become an intolerable extortionist and can mulct both sides. In business the only right way is the square way. THE GREEK SITUATION THE HE Greek Government has called upon Prince Paul, younger brother of the deceased King Alexander, to ascend the throne. The Prince is with his parents in Switzerland. When the Greek Minister in Switzerland informed him that the Greek Government considered him called to assume the duties of sovereign, he replied, as reported: I do not share the point of view of the Greek Government. The throne does not belong to me but to my august father, King Constantine. My eldest brother Prince George is constitutionally his successor. Neither of them has ever renounced his rights but both were obliged to leave Greece. Through its power Greece was brought At this moment a regency under PRINCE PAUL, WHO MAY BECOME KING many parties and political groups in THE BOLSHEVIST ADVANCE IN SOUTHERN RUSSIA declared himself willing to subordinate Meanwhile the Greek Parliament has elected as Regent Admiral Kounduriottis, who became internationally known when in the first Balkan War, as Commander of the Greek fleet, he put the Turkish fleet out of business, thus clearing the way for Greek occupation of Greek islands which had long been under Turkish sovereignty. Later the Admiral became Minister of Marine in the Venizelos Cabinet, a position he still holds. He is a close personal and political friend of the Prime Minister, and in September, 1916, was with him a co-signer of the proclamation establishing the Provisional Government. HE tent of General Wrangel's defeat. He was trying to hold a front along the Dnieper River, and it is said that a sudden and unexpected freezing of the Dnieper permitted the forces of the Reds to cross on the ice and initiate a sudden and disastrous attack. General Wrangel is now holding a line of de fense at the Isthmus of Perekop, the only entrance to the Crimean Peninsula. HE Chinese are greatly puzzled over American denominational distine tions. They are unable to understand who the Presbyterians are, for in the Chinese language these are called the "church of old men." The distinctions between northern and southern Bap tists are not very exciting in Peking. In all of the mission fields when the native Christians hold meetings they de clare that just as soon as their churches become self-supporting they will abolish all American divisions and be one church. The Rev. Frank Garrett is a Disciple missionary in China who believes that the movement toward a native church should be aided rather than hindered. He wrote home to his Board last spring and suggested that negotiations for church union in China had reached a stage where Disciples of Christ must de clare an attitude toward the movement. The impending union would involve two features which have not hitherto TW recent reverses of General characterized Disciple churches a dis drawal to a strategic base in the Crimea It would be like the treachery and Accounts differ as to the actual ex trict association of churches and a free exchange of members without rebap tism. Mr. Garrett's letter was given to the religious press by a zealous Board member of the conservative order, and for some weeks a theological contro versy has raged around his name. The International Convention of the Disci ples of Christ, which met in St. Louis October 19-24, found the "hot-spot" in its attention to be the policy of the China mission. For two days the issue was debated on the floor of the Convention and in the large Recommenda tions Committee which passes upon the motions made in the mass-meeting which serves as a convention. الله Evidence was produced by letters and documents showing that Mr. Gar rett and others had employed unimmersed Christians from other prov inces in the capacity of native pastors. evangelists, and teachers. Unimmersed people had served as elders at the communion table and had been given 66 open etters when they moved to other provaces. There is no church roster in he Disciple churches of China, since any of the members cannot read and /rite, and there is no "right hand f fellowship," the formal practice in American Disciple churches of receivg new members. The phrase embership" was the occasion of the dium theologicum in the discussion, nd the conservatives among the Disciles insisted that only the putting of he names upon a roster and the giving if the right hand of fellowship constiited " open membership." But Mr. arrett insisted upon a complete and nequivocal recognition of Methodists nd Presbyterians in China as Chrisans and members of the Church. The issue in the Convention was comromised by commending Mr. Garrett's eal for Christian union, but at the me time telling him that the Convenon was opposed to "open memberip," and, if he held to the theory f" open membership," he was inited to resign. There was a harmony ve-feast after this resolution was assed. Thoughtful Disciples, however, do ot see that harmony has been achieved. t is unthinkable that Mr. Garrett hould renounce his faith in a union hurch in China. He is too old a misonary for that. If he resigns, the atire mission force in China may regn in sympathy with him. If he does ot resign, will the Executive Committee ave the courage to remove him and ice all of the consequences of that ction? The Disciples are not the only denomiation which refuses to bury denomina. onal distinctions on the mission field. 'hey happen to be the first denominaon to face the issue in a clear and fecisive way. Should they refuse to ractice Christian union in China, their sistent plea for Christian union in america will be greatly discounted. hey have but postponed to another pear a decision which is of the greatest oment in the development of misionary policy throughout the world. CONVINCING DEFENSE HE recent criticism of the Near East Relief organization reminds one f the somewhat similar charge against he Young Men's Christian Association uring the war. Like that of the Y, so the Near Cast case has been promptly investiated, with the following findings: There were thefts from the Constantinople warehouses, discovered by (C) Keystone View Co. THE GENEVA HOME OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS This fine hotel has been purchased for the use of the League of Nations the bookkeeper as a result of businesslike accounting records. Had the Near East Relief not prosecuted the guilty persons, the newspapers and the general public would never have heard of the thieving. Not one of the more than five hundred officially accredited representatives, as sent from New York, is in any way involved; the charges are confined exclusively to employees engaged locally for distinctively warehouse and kindred work. Every appointee of Near East Relief sent from New York is obliged to meet rigid requirements as to technical qualifications and moral character. Among the questions is, "Are you a total abstainer from alcoholic beverages and narcotic drugs?" and since the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment no candidate has been appointed who has not affirmatively answered this question. The men now under arrest in Constantinople did use intoxicants; they were ex-army men who went from France to Turkey, and were employed locally in the warehouse without the knowledge of the New York Committee. However, any employee of the Near East Relief who uses intoxicants is subject to immediate dismissal. The warehouse thieving amounts to less than $20,000, of which more than half has already been recovered, and the remainder probably will be. In publishing the foregoing frank statement the General Secretary of the Near East Relief adds a convincing "summary," which we condense as follows: More than $50,000,000 in cash and supplies have been administered without the loss of a dollar. More than five hundred American men and women, at great personal sacrifice, have administered this relief. Some of them have died, victims of contagious disease. There are 229 orphanages; 110,000 children have been cared for. There are 63 hospitals, with a daily average of some seven thousand patients. Five hundred thousand Armenians living to-day would have perished but for American relief. "Why does the Near East Relief get such slathers of money? y?" a man asked the other day. The above statistics are eloquent in answer. THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS wo interesting events call attention To the League of Nations. The first is the accession of Rumania as a member. It increases the League's total membership to over forty states, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and India as voting members. The second is the increasingly picturesque variety of the states requesting admittance-Armenia, Esthonia, Finland, Georgia, Iceland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Monaco, the Ukraine. The League is to be housed in the large and well-known Hotel National, which the Council has bought for the It stands on the outskirts of purpose. that quarter of the city known as Les Paquis. The hotel grounds extend to the Lake of Geneva. Those who have been at this hotel will recall the peculiarly fine view of Mont Blanc as seen from this point. A pleasant walk brings the traveler to Ferney, where Voltaire lived, and another to Coppet, whose château was the home of Necker, Louis XVI's Finance Minister, and of his daughter, the celebrated Madame de Stael. At the first meeting of the Assembly of the League (beginning November 15, at Geneva) each member state is represented by not more than three delegates, but disposes of only one vote. Among the questions before the conference are: Accession of new states to the Confirmation of the present non permanent members (Belgium, Brazil, Greece, Spain) of the Council or the election of substitutes. Criticism of the work already done by the Council. Definition of the details of an economic blockade (Article XVI of the League Charter). Consideration of the draft scheme for the proposed Court of International Justice at The Hague, which was prepared by a distinguished commission of ten jurists, including Elihu Root, submitted to the Council and by it referred to the Assembly. With regard to this last subject, the so-called permanent Court of Arbitration, erected by the First Hague Conference (1899), provided the foundation, and the instructions of Mr. Root, then Secretary of State, to the American delegates to the Second Hague Conference (1907) contained the original plan for such a court as is now embodied in the draft scheme. While the League now claims it as an integral part of its machinery, it is emphatically the logical and inevitable outgrowth of the Hague Conferences. They did not contemplate, as does the Wilson plan for a League of Nations, a political association. Their ideal was an association of which the chief feature should be a court to secure the recognition of international law, its interpretation and application. THE FLOOD TIDE OF O N another page of this issue of The Outlook appear four maps of the United States. In black and white these four maps tell the history of America for the last sixteen years as reflected in the fall and rise of a great political party. In 1908 the Republican party was at the flood. Four years later, rent asunder by factional disputes, it won the electoral votes of only Utah and Vermont. Four years more saw the world engaged in the greatest conflict of history. Welded together by one common purpose, the Republican factions were struggling toward unity of action, but this end had not then been attained. Again four years have passed, and now, with Germany crushed, the nations of the world are endeavoring to reestablish themselves upon a peace basis. What opposition to a common foe had failed to perform in 1916 hostility to the still dominant Democratic party more than achieved in 1920. The Republican party is again at the flood. The cycle of defeat and victory is complete. Captained by a man who admittedly controls no large personal following, whose record of achieve It is not our purpose to discuss here Editors of both Republican and Democratic affiliations are united in the obvious opinion that this great victory entails an even greater responsibility. Because the victory is so overwhelming, the personal responsibility for fu Chapin in the St. Louis Star to The natural division of the problems confronting the country can be made o along the cleavage line of domestic and pr foreign policy. Domestic policy an the again be classified under the headings the economic and social, a distinction which M can be more clearly seen in theory than for in practice. 19 The first and most fundamental prob hay lem under the heading of economics is pol the problem of the restoration of a ca normal price level without the destre pri tion' of the industrial fabric. Deflation but of currency must proceed at the same di time as the progressive development office the means of production. Deflation si cannot exist without the curtailment of rit credits, and industry cannot advana do without the existence of ample credit de It is a problem of directing credit into o useful and productive channels while a the same time discouraging its dissip tion in non-productive fields. It is a probat lem easier to define than to accomplish The problem of readjustment of tax pe tion is little less important than the problem of credit. And taxation must not only be more equably distributed but it must also be reduced. The re duction of taxation will be largely det pendent upon Governmental efficiency the adoption of a budget system of finance, and the most rigid supervision of expenditures. Democrats and Ren publicans alike have testified to the ture success or failure is not one which great waste of effort in the Govern Republican leaders can dodge. What is the situation which con- America is fundamentally progress- mental bureaus at Washington. It is never politically pleasant to separate men and women from political jobs; yet this task must be undertaken cour ageously if the Republican party is to justify the faith manifested by the voters at the election. It is no gentle readjustment of places and substitu tion of one group of place hunters with another which is needed, but s drastic surgical operation. With the incoming of a Republican Administration doubtless the tariff will again be brought to the fore. Republi can Administrations in the past have manifested too great an enthusiasm for the protection of special interests at the expense of the welfare of the country at large. It will be remembered that Senator Harding in his keynote speech before the Republican Convention in 1916 declared that the tariff was the paramount issue before the country. The statement was a throwback to the days of Senator Hanna. We hardly think that Senator Harding and the Republican leaders who face the problems of the future need to be told that the country has little interest in tariff bills which are protective of anything but the general welfare. Turning from problems largely economic, let us look for a moment at problems largely social, remembering that social progress cannot be made if the stomachs of the people are empty. Most of the principles of social progress for which the Progressives fought in 1912 are either on the statute-books or have been accepted by the leaders of political thought in both the Demoscratic and Republican parties. The principles have been accepted, it is true, but there still remains the large need of translating these principles into prac tice. Execution, as Governor Coolidge said, must be given time to catch up with legislation, and those who are chosen to execute the laws and to handle the problems dealing with labor and social justice must be forward-looking men with a vision which has been denied to many men who have held places of authority under a "liberal democracy." There is another fundamental of progressivism which needs renewed emphasis. It is a fundamental in which Senator Harding in the past has manifested little interest. We refer to the conservation and development of our natural resources for the benefit of the Nation at large. The Republican party ander President Taft lost much of its understanding of the need for vigilance in this direction. The people will watch Mr.Harding's Administration closely to Bee whether or not anything of the Roosevelt enthusiasm for conservation has been regained. On the question of agricultural development Senator Harding in at least one speech has manifested a most hopeful understanding of the problems before the country. He has recognized the fact that movements for rural welfare are useless unless the economic attractiveness of farm life can be restored. The figures of the 1920 Census show how great is the need of placing the American farm upon economic equality with the American factory. We believe that by the development of proper system of distribution of farm products this economic balance can be restored without the manifestation of special favoritism such as the Wilson Administration showed toward the cotton farmers of the South, or the granting of class favors such as Secretary Meredith recently and properly denied to wheat farmers of the West. These are some of the domestic problems which will confront the new Republican Administration, but these domestic problems tell only half the story of the burden of responsibility which lies ahead. During the campaign the interest of the country has been centered upon our foreign entanglements resulting from the World War. In this field the questions to be solved involve large issues of principle as well as fact, and these questions are by no means limited to the adoption or rejection of Article X. In the last four years we have lost sight of the Philippines. Experiments in the administration of those islands have proceeded apace. Shall we go back to the slow development advocated by Dean Worcester and exPresident Taft, or shall we accept as an accomplished fact the methods and policies of Governor-General Harrison? Under the Roosevelt Administration the Republican party adopted a constructive and friendly attitude towards the backward nations of the West Indies and Central America. How far has the Democratic Administration misconstrued and misapplied these policies? The question is fraught with danger to our relations with the vast continent to the south. The Mexican problem is also with us. Some of the so-called liberals bitterly opposed to Senator Harding say that a Republican Administration means immediate war upon Mexico, and that the great financial interest with Mexican investments will selfishly control the policy of our Government towards Mexico. The vacillation of the Wilson Administration in its handling of the Mexican problem must not be repeated, and the charges which we have cited must be proved to be false. have cited must be proved to be false. The situation requires the highest type of diplomacy, the greatest degree of courage, and the constructive application of applied idealism and good faith. Last and most important of all, the incoming Administration will be face to face with the adjustment and readjustment of our relations with Europe. Europe is not concerned as we have been with the phraseology of treaties or of theoretical principles of leagues of nations. Out of the blackness of economic ruin it looks toward impregnable America and sees the one nation which looms like a Colossus in a fraternity of shattered peoples. To America Europe turns with mingled envy, fear, and hope. It is for the Republican Administration to justify that hope with assistance based upon an understanding of reality; it is for the Republican party to sweep aside that fear and that envy with justice and good will. Herein lies the measure of the problem confronting the Republican party in its renewed leadership of the American people. 66 "T THE SHARERS HERE is a beautiful old saying," remarked the Young-Old Philosopher, "that I have always loved. When two people share a joy, it is doubled; when they share a sorrow, it is halved.' "Could any argument against human selfishness, or for the wisdom of human co-operation, be stronger? "When an artist produces a beautiful picture, or a poem, or a statue, his first thought is to share the ecstasy he feels with another. He must show what he has done-not through any sense of vainglory, but through that innate something in us all, whether we are artists or artisans, which makes it necessary to give as well as to receive. "I see a wonderful sunset, and my first desire is to have some one at my side to behold it with me. To try to tell of it afterward is not sufficient. That bromidic remark so often written upon picture post-cards, Wish you were here,' gushes out of the heart of all of us. I read a book by a great writer. My first impulse is to spread the news of the mine of beauty I have found. I see a great play, or hear a great opera, and I wish passionately that my best beloved, or my best friend, should see and hear it too. For life is not a seeking for beauty by ourselves. We may accidentally stumble upon some loveliness-find a garden-scape and go into raptures over it, for instance; but we immediately want the entire village to know of it and view it with their own eyes. "Think of spending Christmas alone! Think of any anniversary passed in solitude! The saddest people in the world are lonely people. If I had a fortune, I would spend it in trying to bring human beings closer together. The community spirit is not an idle dream. From the time of the Garden of Eden solitude that is forced upon one is something that the wise have shunned. Solitary confinement is considered the cruelest of all forms of punishment, as indeed it is, and this way madness lies.' Show me a man who does not abominate a hermit-like withdrawal from life and I will show you an eccentric and abnormal type. The natural process is to share everything, especially everything good. Mar Photograph by H. H. Moore, of the Outlook staff riage, love, friendship, are founded on "I knew a young man once who lost his position, and for days thereafter he left his house in the morning as though he were going to his old office at the regular time. He feared to tell his wife of his trouble. Yet she would have been the first to understand. If marriage meant to him, in a crisis, that he could not open his heart to his helpmeet, then he failed to realize the sacred meaning of the sacrament. His tortured mind was unrelieved by an outpouring of his ill luck; and-if he had but known it-he was being unfair to his wife. For it was her privilege, her right, to share his burdens as well as his joys. To lock her from that room of his mind was senseless, and, in a measure, selfish. She would have been proud to shoulder part of the heavy load. She had to know, ultimately, and she was consumed with grief that she had for so long a time been a useless figure in their menage. "The understanding heart is what we all crave. The world knows the laughter of Harlequin; but only one may know his tears. Everything must be shared, whether it be joy or suffering. Both joy and suffering are sacred. How fortunate are they who share the latter, no less than the former, with some comrade!" HAMILTON WRIGHT Ο MABIE NE of the friendliest of men, one of the best of companions,' says Dr. George A. Gordon in a discriminating pen portrait of Hamil ton W. Mabie in the "Life and Letters" of Mr. Mabie which has just appeared. It is just this side of Mr. Mabie's personality that comes first to mind with those of us who met him closely and constantly in editorial association. For thirty-seven years Mr. Mabie was Associate Editor of The Outlook, and he was an active member of its staff at the time of his death, in December, 1916. His personality was serene and genial. 1 The Life and Letters of Hamilton W. Mabie. By Edwin W. Morse. Dodd, Mead & Co., New York. He was never impatient, he was always alive to the humorous side of life, he was a tireless worker, yet one who carried out his really extensive accomplishment as journalist, author, critic, and lecturer with ease and calmness. As we knew him in the Outlook office he was never worried, never nervous, never excitable; he always had time to help others, apparently always time to talk with visitors. Yet, as Mr. Morse's ac count shows, his life was one of constant activity in many matters of public interest, as in educational, religious, and other community service outside his distinctively professional work. He was interested quite as much in human problems as he was in literary criticism. To everything he brought, in Mr. Howells's words, a nature of simplicity, frankness, charm, and cheerfulness, and a spirit of buoyant helpfulness and hopefulness. A true picture of Mr. Mabie as he appeared to his associates is given in this Life in a little pen portrait by his office secretary, Mrs. Anna Knight: I never knew him to be impatient, irritable, peevish, sarcastic, exacting, or even unreasonable, all of which traits most people manifest at one time or another, and a large number much of the time. But with all his gentleness he worked in a positive rather than a negative spirit the "Thou shalt " spirit of the New Testament rather than the "Thou shalt not" of the Old. He diffused in a remarkable degree an atmosphere of antiantagonism. I recall a number of men now holding influential positions in literary and publishing work who owe their start entirely to the right word-written, spoken, or telephoned by Mr. Mabie at just the right time; he was never too busy to Stop, Listen, and Help. As a talker and teller of apt stories and anecdotes-not dragged in, but directly to the point-one doubts whether Mr. Mabie had many equals. He knew most of the great literary lights of his day and many famous public men; and he had abundant recollections of their talk-enough to make a delightful book of reminiscences. Such a book his colleagues often urged him to write, but he was extremely averse to making literary use of private conversations, and the book was never written. Nor was his literary purpose and manner especially favorable for bringing out his sense of humor. His old friend, Dr. Henry van Dyke, expressed this well in saying: "There is a rich fund of humor in him which does not often come to the surface in the printed page. His speaking style is livelier and more varied than his written style. On W |